Apparatus for distilling lubricating oil



June 3, 1930. A. E. PEw, JR

APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING LUBRICATING OIL Original AFilled May 29. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet :i l --l|| l -1- ILITT-- I fwn/rss..-

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June 3, 1930.

A. E. PEW, JR

APPARATUS Fl DISTILLING LUBRICATING OIL Drginal Filed May 29, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet i Waff/fr0@ Aff/Aw .5 22W, 17;.

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Patented June 3, 1939 PATENT; orifice' ARTHUR E. FEW, JR., OF IBRYN MAWR, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 SUN OIL COM- PANY, 0F PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY APFARATUS FOR D'ISTIILING- LUBRICATING OIL Application filed May 29, 1926,*Sera1 No.'- 112,485. Renewed August 21, 1929.

My invention relates to the treatment, condensation and deodorization of vapor from an oil still, and. particularly from a continuous oil still operating in accordance with any process adapted to evolve vapors that may or may not be free from products of decomposi` tion but containing heavier fractions which it is desired to eliminate and products which if retained would impart an oiiensive or disagreeable odor to the distillate. The object of my invention is to condense and separate such heavier fractions and return them to the still and to separately condense the remaining vapors and to eliminate therefrom all incondensable gases and other odor-producing products.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in

Fig. 1 is a diagram, in side elevation, of the principal elements of a complete distillation plant. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a detail elevation view, mainly 1n section, of the refluxing and condensing tower.

l Fig. 4 is a plan View, and Fig. 5- an edge view, of one of the tile-supporting grids in Fig. 6 is a detail sectapnal elevation of the deodorizer.

Fig. 7 is a partial view, also in section, 0i gie deodori'er, looking at right angles to iig. 6.

The invention is particularly adapted to the distillation 0f petroleum from which the lighter fractions have been topped so as t0 leave the fractions adapted for the' manufacture of lubricating oil'. rllhe invention is applicable, however, to the distillation of any or all fractions of petroleum or any other similar crude or partly rened product ot' Y petroleum or other oil.

rIhe oil to be distilled flows through a pipe b into the iirst vaporizer a of the series wherein the lightest fraction of the oil is vaporized.

' See Figs. l and-2.y The residue, which constitutes the greatly predominating part of the admitted oil, flows out through pipe b and thence into the next Avaporizer aof the serles,

lmay be employed, but I more particularly contemplate the use of mercury vapor as the direct heating medium and the use of a process and apparatus similar to that shown in an application filed by Arthur E. Pew, Jr; and

Henry Thomas March 5, 1925, Serial No.

` 13,040. The use of the process therein disclosed permits of a relatively low temperature of the heating medium and is characterized by high heat conductivity, so that the vapors may be distilledwithout the necessity of subsequently purifying the distillate by chemical treatment or with fullers earth.

`The vapor condensing, reluxing and deodorizing apparatus herein set forth comv prises a number of units, one for each vaporl izer, and a description of one of the unts'will sutlice to describe all. p

The vapor from any vaporizer (say a) escapes through pipes a? to a header d and thence through pipes d2 to the lower part of a tower (see Figs. 3, 4 and 5). Just above the discharge mouths of pipes d2, and not far above the bottom of the tower, is a grid'e, which supports a pile of chemical tiles, preferably the Well known Raschig rings, f. v

Above and spaced from the top 0f the pile of tiles f isanother grid g, similar togrid e, and vshown in detail in Figs. i and 5'. Grid g supports another and higher pile of tiles h, which may be ofthe same character as tiles f.

Below grid g and above tiles f, and spaced` from both, is a pan or partition i provided with anl upstanding flange 1I enclosing a central Vapor passage. Secured to the bottom of grid g is a, deflector y', which consists of an imperforate disc having a peripheral downwardly and obliquely extending flange Whoseperiphery overhangs the annular space outside of the ange z" of partition a. wo

The bottom of the tower communicates, through a pipe k, with one oi the vaporizers, preferably ,the saine vaporizer as that from which the vapors passed into the bottom of the tower, and with that end of such vaporizer into which the main stream of oil is fed.

'The top of the tower communicates, through a pipe fm', with' a stink oil receiver m.

Any vapors carried into the tower a: from pipes d that are heavier than the fraction which it is desired to segregate will condense while going through the tiles f and flow down to the bottom of the tower. Any particles of oil that may possibly be entrained with the vapors will also flow to the bottom of the tower. rIhence the condensate, or condenasate and unvaporized oil, will return tothe vaporizer through pipe k and join the ingoing stream of oil.

The uncondensed vapors will pass up through the central opening in pan z', through the annular space around delector and through grid g, and through the high pile of tiles h, wherein the vapors are cooled and most of them condensed. Theuncondensable gases, comprising mostly stink vapors, es

cape through stink pipe minto the receiver m. The condensate flows back through the tiles 7L and through the grid g into the an* nular oil receiving pan i. Thence the condensate passes through a pipe n (having a goose-neck providing a trap n) into what I call a deodorizer 0.

rllhe distillate entering the deodorizer is in fairly good condition, but it carries with it some products that impart a somewhat undesirable odor to the oil and from which the oil should be freed.

The deodorizer, shown in small scale in Figs. 1 and 2 and in detail in Figs. 6 and 7, consists of an upright receiver, rectangular in cross section, provided with inclined staggered flow plates p down which the oil flows and'over which it is distributed in very shallow streams. Any vapors carried along with the oil and released therefrom during the How of the oil through the deodorizer, as well as any part of the oilthat may vaporize during such flow, consist, wholly or largely, of odor-imparting products. They escape through pipes r into aheader r', which is connected, through a pipe r2, with a vacuum line. The completely deodorized oil flows out the bottom of the deodorizer through a pipe s', which conveys the oil, through a cooler s2, to a main receiver s.

The main vreceiver s and the stink oil receiver m, like the tar tank c and the header r of the deodorizer, should be provided with valved pipes connected with vacuum, in order that the oil flow system may be maintained under the degree of vacuum desired.

If the oil has been subjected to themercury vapor process of distillation set forth in the said Pew and. Thomas application, the distilled fractions conveyed to the several receivers s are in such excellent condition that they require noy purifying treatment to render them marketable.

Any efficient means adapted to distribute the oil and vapor over a wide surface to facilitate refluxing and condensation may be substituted for, and will be a mechanical equivalent of, the Raschig rings or chemical tiles hereinbefore mentioned.

I do not herein claim the herein described process of producing lubricating oil distillates which comprises subjecting liquid oil to thermal conditions adapted to produce condon sable oil vapors containing odor-removing gas, removing the oil vapors and condensing them and distributing condensate over an extended area and while so ldistributing it subjecting it to a vacuum suliiciently high to remove odor-producing gases, nor do I claim herein any part or feature of said process or any other process herein described. The subject-matter herein claimed is restricted to the apparatus herein shown and described;

the novel processes therein carried out being the subject-matter of pending applications, Serial No. 159,754, filed January 8, 1927, and Serial No. 131,911, filed August 27, 1926.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In an oil distilling apparatus, the combination with an oil vaporizing apparatus adapted to continuously receive oil and continuously form and discharge vapors, of a tower, a conduit adapted to convey oil vapors from the voil vaporizing apparatus to the lower part of the tower, means within the tower adapted to promote reflux fractional condensation'of the vapors, the tower having a top outlet for uncondensed odor-producing gases, a conduit for the escape from the lower part of the tower of heavier condensate,'and a conduit communicating with the tower substantially above the vapor inlet but substantially nearer the bottom of the tower than the top, for escape of lighter condensate, the height of the tower above the lighter condensate outlet being multiple times the diameter of the tower, and a deodorizer with which the second conduit communicates; the deodorizer comprising a receptacle, means therein adapted to distribute the lighter condensate in a thin film, gas outlets from the receptacle adapted for connection with vacuum, and a liquid discharge.

e 2. In an oil distilling and refining apparatus, the combination with an oil vaporizing apparatus, of a tower, a relatively shallow tier of tiles in the lower part of the tower, a

densed in the lower tier of tiles, an outlet for lighted condensate condensed in the upper surfaces for the travel and distribution of oil in a thin layer, an outlet for odor-producing gases in the up'per part of the tower, a conduit leading from said outlet for lighter condensate to the deodorizer, connections to vacuum from the deodorizer for removing odorproducing gases from the oil distributed and flowing through the deodorizer, and a conduit for conveying the deodorized oil from the deodorizer.

3. In an oil distilling apparatus, the combination with an oil vaporizing apparatus, of

a tower, a lower grid within and relatively near the bottom of the tower, an upper grid within the tower above the lower grid and substantially more distant from the top of the tower than from the lower grid, a tier of tiles on the lower grid and a relatively deeper tier of tiles on the upper grid, a'partition having a vapor passage and an oil receptacle positioned below the upper grid, a deflector below the upper grid and over the vapor passage in the partition, a conduit for vapor between the oil vaporizing apparatus and the space in the tower below the lowergrid, an oil condensate return conduit from the lower part of the tower below the lower vgrid to the vaporizing apparatus, an oil condensate outflow conduit from the oil receptacle of the partition, and a stink gas outlet at the top of the tower.

4. In an oil distilling apparatus, the combination with a series of oil vaporizersthrough which a stream of liquid oil is adapted /to successively How, a number of reflux condensate towers and a number of deodorizers having extended surfaces for the travel and distribution of oil in a thin layer and in which odorproducing gases are adapted to be separated from the condensate, a tower and a deodorizer being connected in series with each other, a vapor outlet from each vaporizer to a corresponding tower, each tower and connected del odorizer being in multiple relation with re` speet to the other connected towers and deodorizers.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, on this 14th day of May, 1926.

ARTHUR E. PEW, JR.

-tier of tiles, a deodorizer providing extended 

